82% of U.S. households have organic food in their kitchens

New Nielsen findings released by the Organic Trade Association (OTA) show that 82.3% of American households have organic food in their kitchens. This is a 3.4% increase from 2015. In the first comprehensive look at organic purchases by households on a state-by-state level, the nationally representative Nielsen study of 100,000 households conducted in 2015 and 2016 reported that more households than ever bought organic food on a regular basis throughout 2016.

The Nielsen findings show several states in which 90% or more of households now buy organic on a regular basis, with even the lowest levels all hovering around 70%. The five states seeing the biggest increases in households reporting organic purchases were:

North Dakota, where 85.6% of households participating bought organic in 2016, up 14.2% from 2015

Rhode Island, with 88.3% buying organic, up 12.3% from 2015

Wyoming, where 90% of participating households bought organic in 2016, up 10.8%

South Dakota, which had the lowest percentage of any state at 68.9%, but still recorded a 10% increase

Wisconsin, where 77.6% of participating households bought organic, up 9.1% from 2015

Organic food sales in the United States now total around $40 billion annually, and account for around 5% of total food sales in this country. According to the Organic Trade Association’s 2016 U.S. Organic Industry Survey, total organic food sales in 2015 were $39.7 billion, up 11% from the previous year.